Stocks fall on Wall Street

US stocks fell on Wall Street on Friday, sending the S&P 500 index to its first weekly decline in 10, after a government report showed the US economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the fourth quarter.

The S&P 500 fell 2.98 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 1131.13 on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 22.22 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 10,488.07 and the Nasdaq fell 2.08 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 2066.15. For the week, the S&P 500 lost 0.9 per cent, the Dow shed 0.8 per cent and the Nasdaq fell 2.7 per cent.

The US economy grew at a rate of 4 per cent; economists expected 5 per cent. This raised doubts about whether job creation would increase rapidly enough to reduce unemployment significantly by the time President George Bush faces re-election in November.